Safe and Sound
by damnDenmark
Summary: Alfred is a graduating college student whose remaining semestral project is a thesis centered to a neko. He adopts the remaining one named Kiku, a rescued but abused neko whose traumas go as far from vague dreams to vivid nightmares. Six months is enough to make his thesis, but is it enough to cure Kiku of his traumas?
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first ever story here and I'd just like to say that damn, I'm no good with summaries. My first language isn't English too, so please tell me if there are any grammatical errors or wrong spellings! Please give advice and criticisms of any kind because they are gladly welcomed!

Hetalia does not belong to me!

* * *

The sun was quickly losing its light, street lamps starting to flicker to stability as evening began to fall. Through the slightly crowded streets of eager people ran a boy whose destination was for a local animal shelter just outside the University he was studying in.

Alfred panted lightly, stopping in front of the shelter's glass door before pushing it open, hearing the little bell jingling and cursing lightly when he saw that the place was empty. Damn, he knew he was late.

"Ah, another student, I see?" came a kind voice as a short yet stout man came from behind the counter. He had a kind smile and it was evident in his features that he was used to these kinds of interactions. "I'm afraid your friends have gone half an hour ago." He said with a light chuckle.

Alfred gave one of his own yet he was more sheepish as he let the door swing close behind him, stepping into the shelter. "Er- yeah. I kinda had a few things to do before heading up here.. are there any more left?" he asked, glancing behind the man where a door was placed. Alfred had a thought that what he was looking for is in there. Or at least it _was_ in there.

The man's look turned a little apologetic as he shook his head quite tentatively, "No. There are none left." He said as Alfred's tired features fell even more. The man seemed to look a little guilty when he saw this.

"Aw c'mon.. isn't there any left?" Alfred asked, insisting and the man gave a little sigh.

"Well-.. there _is_ one left. But I'm not sure if he will be of liking to you, son." Although Alfred felt a spark of hope once again, he still felt a little nervous as to why the man would say so.

The man turned on his heel and began to lead Alfred further towards the room till they reached the door at the very back. The door was opened to reveal what seemed to be a small nursery. The flooring was soft and there were blankets, comforters and pillows all around. Toys littered the ground and if it weren't for the slightly dingy and old atmosphere and the scratches on the painted walls, it would have indeed been a nursery. 'The place was empty', this was Alfred's first thought, but that was until he caught sight of something curled up on a blanket against the very corner of a wall. When the door had opened, it had lifted his head, ears perked up thought when it saw Alfred, it seemed to cower away into its corner once again, pressing black ears against equally charcoal black hair as its tail curled around its middle.

"Er- is that him?" Alfred asked quite rudely though it seemed to have not been acknowledged by the man.

"Yes. His name is Kiku." He simply said, a little and somewhat worried frown on his lips as he watched the figure curled up in the corner once more. Alfred had been silent and he guessed that was the cue that got the owner to speak about the neko's past. "He had been abused by his last owner, you see. The neighbors heard yells and calls from the house and when the owner was out, they sneaked in to have a look. They found Kiku locked in a basement and brought him here just about a month ago.. the poor thing. He wouldn't eat or sleep for the first couple of weeks and even now he has trouble sleeping."

Alfred looked over from the owner and then to the figure curled into the corner. If that was the case, wouldn't it be hostile to anyone who tries touching it too? Well.. that was the case with traumatized pets, right? "Does he bite?" the boy found himself asking and to his own surprise, the owner shook his head, making Alfred blink.

"No. He doesn't bite, nor scratch, nor growl whenever someone approaches." The man said, "He just-.. cowers away. As I've said, his last owner had been very abusive and he has feared fighting back. God knows how long he's had to put up with that."

Okay that was kind of good. If the neko didn't bite or scratch, what was the problem, really? But wait.. did Alfred really want to have to put up with that? Did he really want a traumatized neko that could run away and slip out of his dorm room at any given, unsupervised, moment? Ah, damn. This project sucked. But he didn't have to want to wait for the _next_ batch of nekos to come.. that would take way too long, plus his professor had obviously stated that they needed to start working on their report _as soon as possible_ even though it wouldn't even be passed until like, six months later.

"I'll give you time to think. If you wish to wait for the next batch, that's alright too. I understand." the man said, giving Alfred a little pat on his shoulder as he walked out of the nursery-like room. It actually took a few more minutes of contemplating for Alfred before he had finally reached a decision. He had decided that he would wait for the next batch. That would be the best option, right? He felt guilty, yes, but he needed to pass the final semester, god damn it, and Alfred just wasn't sure if Kiku would let him do that.

The student had finally made a move to walk out of the room, seeing the neko perk up at the corners of his eyes yet not acknowledging this as he opened the door. He let out a little yelp, however, feeling something shove in from under his arm and saw a mop of brown hair rush into the room. Alfred glanced at the boy for a few moments, blinking and rooted to the spot as the student watched him hurry up towards Kiku. The boy seemed to be excited about something, bounding up and skipping towards the neko as a small smile found its way to Alfred's lips.

"Neko! Come play with me, come on!" the child chimed, waving his hand and standing in front of the curling mess. The child looked to be about seven eight years old, just as tall as the neko if they both were standing.

Kiku seemed unresponsive though in the next few insistent requests, he had started to shake his head. Lightly at first but soon starting to shake his head vigorously as the boy started to pull him by the arm to get him to stand up. Alfred huffed, wondering why the neko would refuse such enthusiastic invitations, yet his eyes grew wide when he saw that the boy was starting to hit the neko.

"Come on, play with me! I'm bored, come on!" he kept saying, hitting Kiku on his arms at first before hitting his head with a clenched fist, making the neko duck and press his ears against his hair with a whimper. At this, Alfred abandoned all thought and hurried, tugging the back of the boy's shirt till he let go of the sobbing neko's hand and was a safe distance away from Kiku. Alfred got in between them and scolded the boy.

"Hey! That's not the way to treat nekos, kid." He said, footsteps ringing into the room as he saw the owner of the shelter padding in nervously.

"Johnny! What have I told you about bothering Kiku?" the owner asked as the child looked up with anger and betrayal at his grandfather.

"The other nekos would play with me! How come _he_ won't?" he demanded, making the owner shake his head and flash Alfred an apologetic look. "I'm very sorry about this, son.. he just gets so excited with nekos around and-"

"I'll take him."

"..What?"

Alfred went still and rigid, only registering what he had said as he looked up at the surprised looking owner of the shelter. "I-.." he said before licking his lips a little and continuing, "I said I'll take him. Kiku, I mean."

"What- are you- are you sure? It's very alright to wait for-"

"No," Alfred blurted out still, "No he's fine. I'll take him."

"Oh.." the owner said, still a little dumbfounded and only snapped out of his thoughts when his grandson had pulled at his arm a little, "Oh! Right, of course! You'll take him! I'll get the papers to sign, then!" he said, scrambling out of the room yet not anymore closing the door, offering Alfred to follow.

The student didn't however, choosing to stay in the room for the moment as he let out a sigh and ran a hand down his face. Great, now he'd done it. That was just perfect. But he guessed he'd be able to do this. Alfred glanced back at the neko behind him, seeing only now the bruises that littered its arms. Well.. if he was going to start talking to Kiku, he would have to start now.

Alfred took a step back, watching the neko bury his face into the blanket that he held, still seeming to calm down his own sobs. Damn he looked fragile. "Hey there.. My name's Alfred." the student mumbled awkwardly, cursing himself a little but perked up when he saw that the neko had pulled away from the blanket and looked up to meet his eyes as a single mutter escaped his lips.

"Hello."

This was going to be a long semester.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, Kiku, get down from there," Alfred said, looking a little annoyed but tired as he stared at the neko who had nestled himself at the top bunk of the double decker bed.

Alfred's dorm room wasn't a lot, but it _was_ meant for two people. American's roommate had moved out of the dorm to get himself an apartment outside the University just a few months ago, leaving Alfred with a couch, a tv, the whole wardrobe to himself and a double decker bed with the top bunk being empty; that was where Kiku had isolated himself for the last couple of days since Alfred got him.

"C'mon, buddy, you haven't eaten in like, two days." Alfred reasoned but received no response still from the neko. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand down his face.

As said, Kiku had refused to leave the bed even when Alfred had called him for food just as he was trying to call him down for dinner a few moments ago. The American grumbled under his breath and moved to sink into the couch, his laptop laying over the small coffee table in front of him, mocking him with the reminder that he had to start his semestral report. Damn, what was he supposed to write? ' _He would not eat nor come down from where he'd stationed himself for the past few days._ 'What kind of report would that be?

It seemed liked Alfred had been letting out a constant stream of replies lately and the latest one, being now, seemed to be making the neko grow uneasy because as soon as Alfred closed his laptop, he finally- _finally_ heard the neko speak.

"If I eat.. you won't hit me?" Kiku asked, Alfred craning his head up to look behind him at the neko, blinking lightly. Hit him? Why would Alfred hit him? He was _offering_ the food, after all.

"No, of course not. Why would I do that?" Alfred asked but he received no reply and instead, Kiku slowly moved down to hop off the top bunk, landing on his feet and slowly approaching the coffee table where the plate of food was. Alfred could see that Kiku was hungry and the blond really had to wonder why the neko had hesitated so much in eating.

Alfred watched as the neko took the plate and hurried back towards the bed though this time, he had sat on the flood just below the ladder that lead to the top bunk, and there he began to eat. He looked as if he were enjoying his food, eagerly digging in and shoving large amounts into his mouth and Alfred felt pleased with himself as he watched the neko to so.

That had really been the only meal Kiku had eaten for the rest of the day, seeing as though it was already evening. When he finished, he placed the empty plate back onto the coffee table and scrambled up onto the top bunk which he had now claimed for his own. Alfred watched this, a little frown on his lips. Damn.. he should really make an effort to at least try and converse with the neko. But really, how could he? Kiku always seemed, and even had a record in the shelter, to keep his thought and actions to himself and the owner had made it clear to Alfred that that was not the neko's fault.

It was that bastard's who abused him.

xxx

It did not come as a surprise when Alfred had stayed up later than he would have expected, finishing homeworks and papers, writing up some stuff and reading through some books as well as finishing a powerpoint presentation and getting it ready for reporting the next morning. When Alfred had glanced at the clock, it had been two in the morning. It was quiet at that time, mostly because it was a Thursday and there weren't any parties upstairs or in the neighboring rooms, yet as Alfred closed his laptop and set it on his nightstand beside his, bed, he felt light shifting that came from above and soon heard a few quiet murmurs.

Alfred looked up, staring at the darkness that was the bottom of the top bunk. He kept silent, trying to see if the sounds really _did_ come from the top bunk and was quickly answered when he heard a few quiet whimpers. "Kiku?" Alfred murmured, slipping off his bed and moved to stand up, standing on the tip of his toes to try and see what was going on with Kiku, and to Alfred's surprise, the neko was merely asleep.

"Kiku.." Alfred murmured again, brows furrowing a little in confusion as, once again, the neko tossed and turned on his jumble of blankets and comforter, letting out small whines and later on a sob. Alfred gulped and licked his lips a little. Was Kiku having a nightmare? What was Alfred supposed to do? He'd never really encountered anything like this before and he wondered if he should wake Kiku up or just let the nightmare pass. But the sounds grew louder and the sobbing increased until Alfred just could not take it anymore.

He slowly climbed the ladder, crawling over the small space and careful not to step on any of the neko's limbs or tail as he did so. Alfred reached up and placed a hand on the neko's shoulder, jostling him gently to hopefully wake him. "Kiku.. Kiku, hey.. wake up, buddy." Alfred mumbled no growing a little more worried as he shook the neko a bit more. Not a very good idea, however, because with Alfred's shaking and the combined darkness that was in the room, it had not been a very good wake up for the neko.

Kiku yelped, almost screamed as he sat up, chocolate brown eyes wide with fear and confusion as he quickly cowered away from Alfred's touch. "Sorry..! I'm sorry- I didn't mean- I don't know what I did!" he said, holding his head as he looked up at Alfred. "I'm so sorry- please don't hit me- please..! Please.." Kiku's sobbing wracked his body and Alfred grew still for a few moments, not knowing how to react until something urged him to _say something._

"Hey, hey, hey.." Alfred said, waving his hands in front of him a little, hoping to show Kiku that he meant no harm. "It's alright, Kiku, you're okay.. I'm not gonna hit you, alright?" The neko looked up, teary eyes as Alfred met his eyes. "I'm not gonna hit you.. calm down. Please.. it was only a nightmare." When Kiku made no movements whatsoever, Alfred decided that it would be best if he let the neko be just for tonight. Questions would be asked tomorrow. "Right, I'll go down now, okay? Look, I'm going.." Alfred said, slowly starting to retrace his steps till he was at the bottom of the ladder and when Kiku was out of sigh, he could have sworn he'd heard the neko let out a relieved sigh.

Damn, this was going to be harder than he thought..

xxx

The next morning, Alfred tried hard to confront Kiku and ask him about what had happened last night. Had the neko done that for the couple other nights he had been staying here? Because if he had, Alfred hadn't noticed.. that was probably because he had slept early in those days though. The student cursed himself for being less observant.

Again, Kiku did not seem to want to leave his bunk, curling up in the blankets and refusing all contact with Alfred for the rest of the morning. Alfred placed breakfast on the coffee table once again, hoping that Kiku would eat it by the time he got back. He'd also informed the neko that if he got hungry, there was milk in the fridge, cereal on the cupboard and bread on the table inside the little kitchen they had. Even though Kiku did not respond, Alfred had a weird guess that he neko had understood it all. After all, even when Kiku was abused and all, he still seemed to be quite smart yet very very _not_ hostile. Perhaps that was the problem.. Kiku not being able to fight back..? Or maybe he'd tried to fight back all those years but was punched down into submission every time he ever tried to do so. Aah, Alfred really would never know unless he tried talking to the neko.

For the rest of the day, the only thing that had lingered in Alfred's mind was the problem with his neko, and even though he was asked may times by his friends if they could do anything to help, the American simply brushed them off, saying that he was alright.

"Having trouble with your neko, Alfred?" Francis had kindly asked through lunch, taking a piece of bread and nibbling on it's tip a little. Alfred merely nodded.

"Yeah. God, he's so hard to handle."

Francis let out a wry chuckle, pushing up the sleeves of his top to reveal a few scratches littering his arm, "Same with mine.." he simply said with a sigh. Within those moments, two more people had slipped into their table, one of which was Antonio who seemed to have scratches all over his face and arms.

"Aah, I see you've been having trouble with your own lot?" he'd asked, simply earning sighs and nods from Alfred and Francis as lunch commenced.

The last subject of the day had been Humanities for Alfred, which was the subject that had required him the final semestral thesis and it was by far the most interesting subject for the blond. It got him thinking about a lot of stuff, got him contemplating about life, they had activities outside the University and the professor was a really kind old woman who really was not as boring as she was supposed to be. Now they were in the middle of the lesson when for the first time in a long time, Alfred kept spacing out and every time he would go back to listening, their professor would have a whole new and different topic.

"..damn." the American cursed under his breath and buried his face into his hands with a sigh. He was still pretty tired from sleeping late earlier and was still plagued with the problem that he was undergoing right now.

"Mine won't talk to me! He just keeps scratching me! Totally unawesome, Mrs. Cornbelle, this project sucks!"

"Now, now, Mr. Beilschmidt!" the professor said, wagging a finger at Gilbert who was crossing his arms and frowning. There were scratches all over his face just like Antonio's earlier though these were a bit more deep and one of them was still red, ready to bleed at any given moment. "Won't talk to you, will it? Perhaps you don't even try to talk to them as well." She suggested and t got Alfred to perk up a little. "Nekos need constant care and reassurance. Their environment should be friendly as well as their caretaker. Now if you are one to keep babbling and not even try to consider your pet's feelings, then how are they to respond to you the way you want them to?"

The class fell silent and even Gilbert had kept his mouth shut for once as the professor continued, "Talk," she said, "But listen as well. Try to see what they like and what they _don't_ like. Ask the shelter owner for advice, even! Do not insist on anything you feel as if they would not want. Insisting is not healthy, especially for a neko. Now if you took the time to-" the rest of the lesson had been quite a blur for Alfred as he tried to internalize what his professor had said, running a hand down his face in exasperation as he realized how less effort he'd been exerting to try and talk to Kiku. Alfred felt bad and now he felt the need to make it up to the neko..

So now, right after Alfred's classes, he hurried back towards the shelter, asking the owner about small facts about Kiku and soon finding out that the neko was originally from Japan. Huh.. now that Alfred thought about it, Kiku did indeed look Japanese. But what did Japanese nekos like? Alfred thought about this long and hard as he left for the University once again. "They like.. sushi.. " he murmured in thought, "Soup, I guess? And uh-.. Ugh, I don't know.." he said though stopped when he spotted a sign hanging from a distance.

"Chinese-Japanese Restaurant.." Alfred read and instantly brightened up, realizing what he had just struck. The blond hurriedly walked to the direction of the restaurant and by the time the sun was down, Alfred had a handful of things. Well.. not really a handful, but he had with him styrofoam containers of assorted kinds of sushi as well as some rice balls. He also had bought a couple of shirts that he was sure would fit Kiku. They were even patterned with cherry blossoms and stuff! Alfred was sure that Kiku would like them! Now he just had to find a way to get the neko to _at least_ warm up to him enough to get down from the bunk and see what Alfred had for him.


End file.
